Trading partner relationship graph for information exchange platform

ABSTRACT

An information exchange platform referred to as a Trading Grid (TG) may perform relationship-based data processing utilizing a trading partner (TP) graph that describes relationships amongst operating units (OUs) on the TG. When the TG receives a request from an OU to exchange data with a TP, the TG accesses the TP graph and determines a relationship between the OU and their TP as reflected in the TP graph. The TP graph is maintained and controlled by the system independently of the OU and the TP. The TG may route the data based on instructions associated with the relationship that is reflected in the TP graph. The instructions associated with the relationship may specify network based services provided by the TG. An orchestration component may operate to orchestrate the performance of the network based services. The TG then communicates the processed and/or produced data to the TP.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of, and claims a benefit of priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 120 from, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/424,060,filed May 28, 2019, entitled “TRADING PARTNER RELATIONSHIP GRAPH FORINFORMATION EXCHANGE PLATFORM,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,922,655,which is a continuation of, and claims a benefit of priority under 35U.S.C. § 120 from, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/337,884, filedOct. 28, 2016, entitled “TRADING PARTNER RELATIONSHIP GRAPH FORINFORMATION EXCHANGE PLATFORM,” issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,346,802,which claims a benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Application No.62/247,510, filed Oct. 28, 2015, entitled “TRADING PARTNER RELATIONSHIPGRAPH FOR INFORMATION EXCHANGE PLATFORM,” all of which are fullyincorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to supply chain integration,synchronization and collaboration solutions. More particularly, thisdisclosure relates to an information exchange platform providingoperating units with supply chain integration, synchronization andcollaboration solutions. Even more particularly, this disclosure relatesto systems, methods, and computer program products for graphingrelationships among operating units that use the information exchangeplatform and for facilitating exchange of information between and amongsuch operating units based on particulars in their relationships.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to an information exchange platformhaving the necessary resources (e.g., hardware, software, personnel,etc.) to provide supply chain integration, synchronization andcollaboration services (referred to herein as managed services) thatenable the real-time flow or exchange of information between and amongoperating units in a network environment. Examples of operating unitsmay include enterprises, corporations, companies, agencies, etc. Anexample of a network environment may include a cloud computingenvironment. OpenText GXS Trading Grid® (hereinafter referred to as theTrading Grid or TG) is an example of an information exchange platform.Examples of managed services may include data (e.g., a document)tracking, messaging, document transformation, regulatory compliance,encryption, data manipulation, etc.

Operating units wishing to use the information exchange platform mayhave disparate format/configuration requirements, standards preferences,spoken languages, and/or geographic locations spanning multiple cities,countries, or even continents. Given the vast amounts of data andoperation complexities involved in managed services, it can be extremelydifficult and/or prohibitively expensive for an operator of theinformation exchange platform to provide a variety of managed services,keep track of all the activities by all the operating units and theirparticular requirements, preferences, etc. at all times and across theentire information exchange platform, process all their requestssubmitted through the variety of managed services, and deliverinformation products such as supply orders or invoices in an accurate,efficient, timely, and secure manner.

In some embodiments, a relationship-based document processing method mayinclude receiving a request from an operating unit to send data to aninformation trading partner of the operating unit. The request may bereceived by a system operating on an information exchange platform. Aswill be explained in detail below, the operating unit and theinformation trading partner may be in a community where the operatingunit is designated by the system as an owner of the community. Thesystem may determine a relationship between the operating unit and theinformation trading partner using a trading partner graph. In thecontext of this disclosure, a trading partner graph refers to arepresentation of a set of objects representing operating units wheresome pairs of the objects are connected by links indicatingrelationships of these operating units. Thus, the community mayrepresent a portion of the trading partner graph and define a boundaryrepresenting an extent or scope of relationships from the perspective ofa particular operating unit.

According to embodiments, the trading partner graph can be maintained,updated, and/or controlled by the system independently of the operatingunit and the information trading partner of the operating unit. In someembodiments, the trading partner graph may be stored in a database andthe system may access the trading partner graph by querying thedatabase. Master data associated with the operating unit, which may bestored in another database, may comprise a master data object for theoperating unit and a façade for the information trading partner of theoperating unit in the community. The façade may reference the masterdata object and describe the information trading partner of theoperating unit in context of the community, including configurationinformation required for computer-to-computer interchange of information(e.g., formatted messages, documents, any content and/or data providedby the operating unit or by their information trading partner, anycontent and/or data generated by the system for the operating unit ortheir information trading partner, etc.) between the operating unit andtheir information trading partner of the operating unit. Specifically,the relationship between the operating unit and the information tradingpartner of the operating unit is described by the operating unit andrepresented in the trading partner graph that is maintained, updated, orotherwise controlled by the system.

The system may route or produce the information to be exchanged to asystem component such as an orchestration component based on therelationship between the operating unit and their information tradingpartner as indicated by the trading partner graph. The orchestrationcomponent may orchestrate various processes such that the information tobe exchanged is appropriately processed based on instructions associatedwith the relationship. Example processes or functions that may beperformed on the information to be exchanged may include, for instance,decompression, translation, formatting, and/or validation. The systemmay deliver or otherwise exchange the information thus processed to theinformation trading partner of the operating unit.

In one embodiment, the system may comprise a processor, a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium, and stored instructions translatableby the processor to perform a method substantially as described herein.Another embodiment comprises a computer program product having anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructionstranslatable by a processor to perform a method substantially asdescribed herein. Numerous other embodiments are also possible.

These, and other, aspects of the disclosure will be better appreciatedand understood when considered in conjunction with the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood,however, that the following description, while indicating variousembodiments of the disclosure and numerous specific details thereof, isgiven by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many substitutions,modifications, additions and/or rearrangements may be made within thescope of the disclosure without departing from the spirit thereof, andthe disclosure includes all such substitutions, modifications, additionsand/or rearrangements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification areincluded to depict certain aspects of the invention. A clearerimpression of the invention, and of the components and operation ofsystems provided with the invention, will become more readily apparentby referring to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, wherein identical reference numeralsdesignate the same components. Note that the features illustrated in thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale.

FIG. 1A depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a supplychain network having a plurality of operating units in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 1B depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a tradingpartner graph illustrating the relationships of the plurality ofoperating units in the supply chain network shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of acommunity of information trading partners and their relationships fromthe perspective of an operating unit in the supply chain network shownin FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1D depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example ofrelationships between multiple communities of information tradingpartners in the supply chain network shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1E depicts a more detailed view of FIG. 1D, where each operatingunit is associated with a set of core attributes.

FIG. 2 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a systemoperating on an information exchange platform for identity management ofoperating units according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3A depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a systemoperating on an information exchange platform that implements a masterdata model for collection and management of master data of operatingunits according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3B depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a systemoperating on an information exchange platform that implements multiplemaster data models including a core master data model and apolicy-protected community master data model according to someembodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of aninformation exchange platform that provides managed services tooperating units in a network environment according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method ofprocessing a document for delivery using a trading partner graphaccording to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a portionof a trading partner graph from the perspective of senders according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a portionof a trading partner graph from the perspective of receivers accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method of using atrading partner graph to generate a custom report for a particularoperating unit according to some embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method of using atrading partner graph to generate a global outlook or forecast accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 10 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of acomputing environment where embodiments disclosed may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention and the various features and advantageous details thereofare explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodimentsthat are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in thefollowing description. Descriptions of well-known starting materials,processing techniques, components and equipment are omitted so as not tounnecessarily obscure the invention in detail. It should be understood,however, that the detailed description and the specific examples, whileindicating some embodiments of the invention, are given by way ofillustration only and not by way of limitation. Various substitutions,modifications, additions and/or rearrangements within the spirit and/orscope of the underlying inventive concept will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art from this disclosure.

As discussed above, embodiments provide a system operating on aninformation exchange platform. The system includes a plurality ofdocument-centric applications for facilitating the real-time flow orexchange of information between operating units regardless of standardspreferences, spoken languages, or geographic locations. For example, aportion of the plurality of document-centric applications may providemanaged services such as document tracking, messaging, documenttransformation, regulatory compliance, encryption, data manipulation,etc.

In this disclosure, the term “document-centric applications” refers to aclass of applications configured to run on the information exchangeplatform and provide at least one of the following capabilities:

1) Facilitate the electronic exchange of documents among two or moreoperating units (referred to herein as information trading partners orTPs), by:

-   -   a. Allowing the Sender TP to submit, or the Recipient TP to        receive, data (e.g., a document) via any of the supported        communication protocols. Usually, these exchanges are performed        “machine to machine”.    -   b. Transforming the source document(s) from a Sender TP into one        or more documents in a format understood by the Recipient(s)        TP(s).    -   c. Allowing a Person ascribed to a TP to enter, edit, validate,        send or receive a document using forms via web or mobile        browsers.

2) Archival (persistent storage) and retrieval of documents.

3) Document encryption/decryption/tokenization for transfer or storage.

4) Document-centric logic for functions like:

-   -   a. Validate the quality, completeness, accuracy or integrity of        a document against a set of rules    -   b. “Turn-around” a document of a given type into a pre-filled        document of a derived document type, for example, to turn an        Order into an Invoice.    -   c. Common transaction functions for a given document type, for        example, signature of an Invoice, currency conversion of an        Order.

5) Search and filter a collection of documents.

6) Orchestrate end-to-end global transaction processes by orchestratingits constituent document exchanges (process strands).

7) Provide visibility into the document exchange process, includingmonitoring and alerting for exception conditions, that is comprehensiveOperational Analytics.

8) Provide facilities for deep introspection of Documents for derivingtransaction analytics, including reporting, ad-hoc querying andpredictive analytics.

9) Service application programming interfaces (APIs) to access andextend programmatically the application functionality

A “document” in this context refers to information encoded in digital(electronic) form for the purpose of exchanging the information withanother party. Skilled artisans appreciate that the term “document” isused herein for illustrative purposes and is not limited to anyparticular type of computer file created using an application program.Furthermore, the encoding of the document may also include metadataabout its content, destination, operational parameters, permissions,etc. Examples of documents in this context can include any formattedmessages, electronic data interchange (EDI)-encoded formats, all of thetraditional office formats (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.),computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) files,multimedia content including video, audio, image, and/or text, and evencontent that could be provided by, for instance, a device participatingin an Internet of Things network.

Skilled artisans also appreciate that EDI is an electronic communicationmethod that provides standards for exchanging data via any electronicmeans and that is defined as the computer-to-computer interchange offormatted messages by agreed message standards. EDI distinguishes mereelectronic communication or data exchange in that in EDI, the usualprocessing of received messages is by computer only. By adhering to thesame message standard, TPs, even in two different countries, canelectronically exchange documents (e.g., purchase orders, invoices,acknowledgement, notices, etc.).

In a supply chain network, documents represent the “information supplychain” that mirrors a physical supply chain, acting as proxies for theactual physical goods or actions of a commercial transaction. In somecases, a document can be the actual good that is being transacted. Forexample, in a digital supply chain in areas like media, collaborativedesign, gaming, financial instruments, etc., a document often is theactual good that is being transacted. An example of a supply chainnetwork is illustrated in FIG. 1A.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, supply chain network 100 may include aplurality of operating units (OUs) including “My Company” (OU-A), “MySupplier” (OU-B), “My Supplier's Supplier” (OU-C), “My Customer” (OU-D),and “My Customer's Customer” (OU-E). In this disclosure, an operatingunit (OU) represents a company, a corporation, an enterprise, an entity,or a division thereof.

Notice that in FIG. 1A, supply chain network 100 reflects a perspectiveof OU-A “My Company.” That is, on the one hand, OU-A may have specificknowledge about OU-B and OU-D because OU-B and OU-D are TPs of OU-A.That is, OU-B and OU-D each established and have a relationship withOU-A. On the other hand, OU-A may know of OU-C through OU-B, a supplierof OU-A, but OU-A may not have specific knowledge about OU-C (becauseOU-A and OU-C do not have a direct relationship). Likewise, OU-A mayknow of OU-E through OU-D, a customer of OU-A, but OU-A may not havespecific knowledge about OU-E (again, because OU-A and OU-E do not havea direct relationship). Therefore, the levels of knowledge that OU-A mayhave about each OU in supply chain network 100 may vary greatly from OUto OU, depending upon their relationships with one another.

As an example, suppose in building a product OU-A may need an item (or apart) of which OU-B is a supplier. Accordingly, OU-A may send an Order(a type of document supported by supply chain network 100) to OU-B(101). As explained below, this communication may be accomplished via asystem operating on an information exchange platform such as the TradingGrid disclosed herein. OU-B, which is a TP of OU-A, may receive theOrder from OU-A and work to fulfill the Order from OU-A. In doing so,OU-B may need one or more items from OU-C. Accordingly, OU-B may send anOrder (which may or may not combine the Order from OU-A with any otherOrder from any of OU-B's own TPs) to OU-C(102). OU-C, in this case, is aTP of OU-B, but not a TP of OU-A. OU-C fulfills the Order from OU-B(103) which, in turn, fulfills the Order from OU-A (104). OU-A thencompletes and provides the product to its customer, OU-D (105). OU-D,which is a TP of OU-A, may use the product from OU-A to fulfill an Orderfrom its own customer, OU-E (106). OU-E, in this case, is a TP of OU-D,but not a TP of OU-A.

FIG. 1B depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a TPgraph 110 having nodes 111, 113, 115, 117, and 119 illustrating therelationships of the OUs in supply chain network 100 shown in FIG. 1A.As illustrated in FIG. 1B, although both OU-B and OU-D are direct TPs ofOU-A, they are not direct TPs with each other and only know of eachother through OU-A. Therefore, neither OU-B nor OU-D may have specificknowledge about each other. Likewise, although both OU-C and OU-A aredirect TPs of OU-B, they are not direct TPs with each other and onlyknow of each other through OU-B. Therefore, neither OU-C nor OU-A mayhave specific knowledge about each other. Similarly, although both OU-Aand OU-E are direct TPs of OU-D, they are not direct TPs with each otherand only know of each other through OU-D. Therefore, neither OU-A norOU-E may have specific knowledge about each other.

For the purpose of illustration, FIGS. 1A-1B show supply chain network100 with only five OUs. Skilled artisans appreciate that a supply chainnetwork may involve hundreds or even thousands of OUs. Therefore,potential relationships amongst OUs in a supply chain network can bequite complex and complicated. Moreover, relationships amongst the OUsin a supply chain network can change rapidly and significantly. As canbe expected, it can be very challenging for a system operating on aninformation exchange platform to keep track of relationships in a supplychain network so that the system can facilitate the real-time flow orexchange of information between these OUs in a supply chain network.Further complicating the matter is that the system may need to supportmultiple supply chain networks and multiple OUs may be involved in anyone of the multiple supply chain networks that the system supports.

In embodiments disclosed herein, the interconnection of relationships(direct and indirect) among OUs in a supply chain network may berepresented in a Trading Partner Graph (TP Graph). A TP Graph can beviewed as a single logical graph that can be distributed and that canreside on physically separate storage devices operating in a networkenvironment. According to embodiments, a TP Graph is a representation ofall of the Trading Grid OUs, their TPs, and the relationships betweenthem. Such a TP graph can be very useful for Enterprise InformationManagement (EIM) in producing, delivering, and/or exchanginginformation. While a system can be built to utilize a TP graph forexchanging information over a network (e.g., the Trading Grid), theTrading Grid is distinctly different from a traditional messaging ormessage delivery systems. One reason is that the Trading Grid isrelationship-driven, facilitating a meaningful bi-directionalcommunication between TPs. The Trading Grid itself creates arelationship with each OU. The relationships among trading partners onthe Trading Grid can be organically extended as each trading partnerevolves and/or grows over time, for example, from a basic trading ofcontact information to a more complex information exchange involvingmultiple network based services such as authentication, validation,certification, encryption, compression, data conversion, etc. providedby the Trading Grid. Thus, while the Trading Grid can deliver messages,files, and documents alike, it is infinitely more complex, powerful, andsophisticated than a traditional messaging system.

In some embodiments, a TP Graph may represent a superset of OUs andtheir trading relationships. Each OU may be represented in the TP Graphby a single node.

Referring to FIG. 1B as an example, if OU-B and OU-D both trade withOU-A, they are trading with the same OU-A instead of two separate nodesthat share a similar name. However, not all OUs in a TP Graph may beregistered with the system. Furthermore, OUs may join the system atdifferent times. Thus, the TP Graph may not represent a complete supplychain network. Rather, it represents OUs, their TPs, and theirrelationships in the Trading Grid (which, as explained above, is anexample implementation of an information exchange platform) supported bythe system. This is further explained below.

The Trading Grid can interpret the TP Graph, enable the execution ofOU-to-OU processes by document-centric applications (e.g., informationexchange, survey management, content management, analytics, etc.), andprovide a complete visibility of full operational intelligence of suchprocesses without compromising on data security, allowing OUs to protecttheir private relationships with their TPs while benefiting from thenetwork effects of a connected Grid. According to embodiments, this isrealized by implementing an OU-centric community paradigm, rather than asocial network paradigm. Skilled artisans appreciate that the socialnetwork paradigm employed by networking sites often allows individualsto connect and/or be friends with as many other individuals as theywish, or to join and/or follow as many groups as they like. This doesnot work well in the enterprise world where OUs could be TPs as well asactual or potential competitors. For example, OU-A could be negotiatinga deal with OU-B and may not want OU-B to know that it is also gettingquotes from other OUs.

A TP is in a relationship with another TP for a particular purpose andthe relationship is characterized by a methodology that dictates howand/or what information is to be processed and exchanged. Eachrelationship is meaningful and purposeful—e.g., to exchange documents ofa certain type in this format. Relationships amongst TPs are lessmutable—an OU cannot just “friend,” “follow,” “unfriend,” or “un-follow”their TP with a click of a button on a web site. This is quite unlikesocial networking sites where connections among users are generic innature and often do not need to have any purpose or imply purposefulrelationships. Such social relationships or casual connections also donot dictate how comments and posts are processed by the socialnetworking sites.

The OU-centric community paradigm, which is exemplified in FIGS. 1C-1E,allows an OU to leverage services provided by the Trading Grid tocommunicate with their TPs and provides a mechanism for defining,managing, and utilizing private relationships between that particular OUand its TPs. FIG. 10 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an exampleof a community 120 from the perspective of OU-A.

In this disclosure, a community represents a subset of the overall TPGraph from the perspective of a single OU (e.g., community 120 is asubset of TP Graph 110 from the perspective of OU-A). In this context, a“community” represents an extent or scope of relationships from theperspective of that single OU— the OU's “universe.” In the example ofFIG. 10 , from the perspective of OU-A, community 120 consists of a node115 representing OU-A and nodes 113, 117, 121, and 123 individuallyconnected to node 115, representing the relationships of all of the TPsof OU-A (which, in the example of FIG. 10 , include OU-B, OU-D, OU-F,and OU-G). These TPs of OU-A can be considered connected in the sensethat they all communicate with OU-A via the Trading Grid and they allhave a relationship with OU-A. However, as explained above, a TP of OU-Amay only know that they are exchanging information with OU-A via theTrading Grid and may have no knowledge about other TPs in community 120and/or their private relationships with OU-A. This is furtherillustrated in FIG. 1D.

As a non-limiting example, FIG. 1D depicts a diagrammatic representationof an example of a community 130 from the perspective OU-D, in additionto the OU-A centric community 120 shown in FIG. 10 . Following the aboveexample, OU-D is a TP of OU-A in community 120. From the perspective ofOU-D, OU-A is a TP of OU-D in community 130. In community 130, OU-D isthe center of the universe (which is defined by community 130) andtherefore is represented by a center node 117, with nodes 115, 119, and131 radially and individually connected to node 117. In this example,nodes 115, 119, and 131 represent all of the TPs of OU-D (which, in theexample of FIG. 1D, include OU-A, OU-E, and OU-H).

From a system perspective, multi-tenancy in a Trading Grid can berepresented by the combination of many OU-centric communities, each ofwhich appears as a single-tenant to the respective community owners. Inthe case of OU-A, community 120 consists of all of OU-A's relationshipsto their TPs and services provided by the system that can be applied tothose relationships. Similarly, in the case of OU-D, community 130consists of all of OU-D's relationships to their TPs and servicesprovided by the system that can be applied to those relationships.

From the perspective of OU-D, community 130 is all about them. They haveno visibility to OUs outside of community 130. That is, OU-D does nothave visibility to community 120 and does not have visibility torelationships in which they have no role. Likewise, from the perspectiveof OU-A, community 120 is all about them. They have no visibility to OUsoutside of community 120. That is, OU-A does not have visibility tocommunity 130 and does not have visibility to relationships in whichthey have no role.

As illustrated in FIG. 1E, each OU can be associated with a set of coreattributes. Core attributes may diff from OU to OU depending upon theinformation process systems and applications to which an OU issubscribed. As a non-limiting example, core attributes related to themanagement of an OU's profile may include identity, location, keycontacts and users, subscriptions, etc. According to embodiments,various profile management systems and/or identity management systemsmay be suitably implemented.

FIG. 2 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a systemoperating on an information exchange platform for identity management ofoperating units according to some embodiments. In this example,OU-specific attributes 267 can be managed using an identity managementmodule 250. More specifically, an authorized user of an OU may accessmanagement module 250 via an identity management interface 220 toprovide and edit OU-specific attributes 267. Additionally, variousapplications such as applications 230 and 240 may enrich OU-specificattributes 267 by adding application-specific attributes such asattributes 235 and 245.

Depending upon the complexity, other types of data models may besuitably implemented. FIG. 3A depicts a diagrammatic representation ofan example of a system operating on an information exchange platformthat implements a master data model for collection and management ofmaster data of operating units according to some embodiments. As skilledartisans can appreciate, the information attributes of a TP can differgreatly from system to system. Although component-specific tools may beused in some cases to manage specific areas of the attribute space, dueat least to the vast amount of data and complicated relationships in asupply chain network, it can be difficult to determine, for instance,for a given OU, who/what are their TPs, what documents they trade, overwhat protocols, etc. To this end, a master data model 360 may be used torationalize and unify master data 365 related to TPs (e.g., TP 311A, TP311B, . . . , TP 311N, etc.), including OU-specific attributes 367, sothat master data 365 can be leveraged within the Trading Grid'stransactional flows as well as the expanding scenarios for communitymanagement and analytics.

In some embodiments, a data collection module 340 may be utilized tocollect data from TP 311A, TP 311B, . . . , TP 311N, etc. Datacollection module 340 may use “provisioning data” in a standardized orunified format (referred to as a data card or, technically, a“service-specific provisioning data instance” (SSPDI)) to describe thedata to be collected from TPs.

A SSPDI can be considered a unit, a bundle, or a logical set ofinformation collected via a service provisioning interface (SPI) of themanaged services provisioning system. The structure of the SSPDI mayvary from implementation to implementation. As an example, oneembodiment of a SSPDI may implement a particular JavaScript ObjectNotation (JSON) schema. JSON is an open standard format that useshuman-readable text to transmit data objects consisting ofattribute—value pairs. Skilled artisans appreciate that JSON schemas areextensible. The particular JSON schema for the SSPDI feature is extendedwith significant changes and additions to meet the functional and visualrequirements of the special service provisioning interface of themanaged services provisioning system. In this example implementation,SSPDIs are special JSON documents.

More specifically, when a service is configured for an OU, a SSPDIinterface may be dynamically generated for entry of service-specificprovisioning information based at least in part on a service-specificprovisioning descriptor associated with the service. A SSPDI can then begenerated using the service-specific provisioning information.

The newly generated SSPDI (and any other SSPDIs for the particular OU)can be stored in a SSPDI store (which, in one embodiment, can beimplemented in a database) in a staging environment until deployment. Asskilled artisans can appreciate, each SSPDI generated and stored in thestaging environment may go through a review and approval process forquality assurance and/or compliance reasons.

Once approved, the SSPDI can be deployed on a backend system (see, e.g.,FIG. 4 ) that provides the requested service. The backend system isoperable to provide the service to the particular OU by using the SSPDIfor the service to process information received from the particular OU.This process can be repeated for each service requested for the OU. Thatis, as each service is configured for an OU, a corresponding SSPDI isgenerated. All the SSPDIs thus generated for the services to be used bythe particular OU can be deployed to the backend systems that providethe requested services. Additional details and examples of this processand a SSPDI framework can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/223,192, filed Jul. 29, 2016, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORMANAGED SERVICES PROVISIONING USING SERVICE-SPECIFIC PROVISIONING DATAINSTANCES,” which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIG. 3B depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a systemoperating on an information exchange platform that implements multiplemaster data models including a core master data model and apolicy-protected community master data model according to someembodiments. Following the community-centric paradigm, an OU can managetheir own master data and their relationships with their TPs within theconfine of a community. However, they cannot view or modify the masterdata of their TPs. To this end, the system may use a core master datamodel 362 for management of core master data 366 at the system level,for instance, to keep track of all the OUs registered with the system,their TPs, their trading relationships, their security information suchas login credentials, etc. The system may separately use a policyprotected community master data model 364 for management of policyprotected community master data 368 at the community level based ondefined policies 370, for instance, to keep track of OU-specificattributes (e.g., name, address, point of contact or POC, etc.) andtheir relationships with their OUs in a particular OU-centric community(e.g., TP 311A is a supplier of TP 311B). In some embodiments, a profilerecord in which an OU describes a TP from the perspective of thatparticular OU is referred to as a façade and policy protected communitymaster data 368 may comprise community-centric façades (and thus mayalso be referred to as façade data).

For example, TP 311A may own their own façade(s) to describe their TP(s)in their community and TP 311B may own their own façade(s) to describetheir TP(s) in their community. Each façade points to a node in a TPGraph representing an OU thus described. The system maintains and usessuch façades to provide services to TP 311A, TP 311B, . . . , TP 311N,etc. Related to each OU in the TP Graph is one or morerouting/electronic data interchange (EDI) address addresses. When thesystem implements a particular OU, the system receives a list of TPsfrom the particular OU in the form of EDI addresses and optionallycompany names. Often these names/addresses relate to the particular OU'sTPs that are external to the system. Therefore, the system may or maynot have direct relationships to all of the TPs in the TP Graph.

In some embodiments, a façade can be implemented as an instance (alsocalled an instance object) of a master data object associated with aparticular OU. An instance is a specific realization of an object. Thus,a façade has a particular value (realization) and reflects the distinctidentity of the master data object. When an EDI address of an OU isfirst provided to the system, the system may automatically create amaster data object (which can be part of core master data 366) and afaçade (which can be part of policy protected community master data368), both of which represent the OU.

As a non-limiting example, the master data object thus created by thesystem for an OU called “My Company” may include a data structure havingat least a data field “Name” which has a value of “My Company”.Likewise, the façade thus created by the system for the OU may include adata structure having data fields including a data field “Name” having avalue of “My Company”. The master data object represents the OU from theperspective of the system and may include the EDI address and anyconfiguration information pertaining to the OU (e.g., collected by datacollection module 340). The façade represents the OU from theperspective of a community and contains a pointer that references themaster data object.

According to embodiments, an OU that participates in multiplecommunities may see substantial differences in façades that describethem from one community to the next. This is because communities canhave differing custom fields, SaaS applications, orchestrated services,security requirements, etc., and these differences may alter the sizeand scope of the community's façade. Core master data, however, cantranscend communities.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B, master data in a TP Graph can come in twomain forms: core master data 366 (e.g., data stored in a master dataobject) and policy protected community master data 368 (e.g., datastored in a façade). Core master data 366 refers to data that can beconsidered as facts and not likely to be different depending on thecommunity context. Core master data 368 should also come from, and bemanaged by, an authoritative source (usually an associated OU itself,for instance, via a user interface of core master data model 362).Policy protected community master data 368 “lives” within each communityand is not replicated across compute zones as is core master data. Thisfact allows community owners to store data in a façade without having toworry that façade data may be copied outside of the compute zone'sregion. Additional details and example data structures of master dataobjects and community-centric façades and related discussions on datasovereignty can be found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/241,588,filed Aug. 19, 2016, and entitled “COMMUNITY-CENTRIC FACADE FORINFORMATION EXCHANGE PLATFORM,” which is incorporated by referenceherein.

FIG. 4 depicts a diagrammatic representation of an example of a TradingGrid (TG) 400 (which is an implementation of an information exchangeplatform). A system 401 operating on TG 400 may include a plurality ofmodules such as an interface module 420, a data processing module 430, adata collection module 440, and a community management module 450. Dataprocessing module 430 may be configured to provide and manage(orchestrate) a very large number (e.g., 50 or more) of services 435performed by backend systems 480A . . . 480N operating on TG 400. Datacollection module 440 may function in the same or similar manner as datacollection module 340 described above. Interface module 420 may beconfigured to provide user interfaces for registered OUs such as OU-Awith access to system 401 or a component thereof (e.g., services 435,community management module 450, etc.).

As an example, OU-A may own and operate enterprise computing environment411 which is separate and independent of TG 400. From the perspective ofsystem 401, OU-A is an enterprise customer and systems 419 of OU-A whichutilize services 435 provided by system 401 are client systems of system401. Client systems 419 operating in enterprise computing environment411 may use services 435 to communicate with various systems and/ordevices operating in computing environments 499 owned and operated byvarious OUs such as TPs of OU-A. Examples of services 435 may include,but are not limited to, translation services, format services, copyservices, email services, document tracking, messaging, documenttransformation (for consumption by different computers), regulatorycompliance (e.g., legal hold, patient records, tax records, employmentrecords, etc.), encryption, data manipulation (e.g., validation), etc.

Community management module 450 may include a façade management tool(application) through which OU-A can access their master data stored ina database 470. Master data 465 may include core master data and façadedata that follow different data models 460. As described above, coremaster data may contain data about an OU that do not change acrosssolution communities, while façade data may contain community-specificdata about that particular OU's TPs. System 401 may maintain a TP Graph410 in a database 475. TP Graph 410 may be a superset of all communitiesdefined by system 401 and may include a plurality of nodes, eachrepresenting a single OU that may or may not have a direct relationshipwith system 401.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a method 500 ofprocessing a document for delivery using a trading partner graph such asTP Graph 410. According to some embodiments, a system such as system 401shown in FIG. 4 may receive a request from a particular OU (e.g., OU-A)wishing to send a document to its TP (501). Unlike an online marketplace where a seller and a buyer may form a temporary, transactionalbased relationship, the OU and its TP(s) have an ongoing relationshipthat is reflected and represented in a TP Graph such as TP Graph 410managed and maintained by system 401. The system may access the TP Graph(505), for instance, by querying a database such as database 475 whereTP Graph 410 is stored or otherwise persisted to obtaincommunity-centric façade data. Skilled artisans appreciate that, whiledatabase 475 shown in FIG. 5 represents a logical database containing TPGraph 410, database 475 may actually reside on separate physical storagedevices or otherwise distributed across a network.

As described above, façade data may contain community-specific dataabout the requesting OU's TP and their relationship. Using thiscommunity-specific data, the system may determine the particularrelationship between the OU and the TP to which the document is to besent (510). The system may then route the document based on therelationship thus determined (515). For example, the relationship mayindicate that the document should be routed to an orchestrationcomponent where the document is decompressed, translated, and/orformatted. Additionally, the relationship may indicate how the documentis to be processed (520). That is, processing of the document andassociated instructions may vary depending upon the relationship betweenthe particular OU and the particular TP of the OU. For example, if therelationship indicates that the document is to be validated, avalidation process is performed and, if it is valid, the document isdelivered to the TP (525). Such document processing rules arerelationship-based so the system in actuality may behave differentlyresponsive to different relationship models. As discussed above,“processing” of the document, in this disclosure, is not limited todecompressing, translating, and/or formatting the document for deliveryand can include a multitude of services provided by the Trading Grid,including, and not limited to, generating additional informationutilizing the document under processing. For example, the system mayemploy advanced data science methodologies such as a world cloudgenerator, a data analytics engine, a reporting function, etc. tocollect data from documents (provided by the OUs to the Trading Grid forprocessing), analyze the collected data, and generate results that canbe visualized for presentation, for instance, on client devicesassociated with the OUs.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 , a TP Graph may be represented orotherwise visualized on a display device in many different ways toreflect these different relationships (and, correspondingly, differentperspectives of relationships). Specifically, FIG. 6 depicts adiagrammatic representation of an example of a portion 600 of a TP Graphfrom the perspective of senders and FIG. 7 depicts a diagrammaticrepresentation of an example of a portion 700 of the TP Graph from theperspective of receivers according to some embodiments. When a userassociated with a particular OU logs into the Trading Grid, the TradingGrid operates to determine whether the user has (permission to) accessthe TP Graph based on the OU's relationships with their TPs established.The extent of the TP Graph that is viewable and that is presented to theuser depends on these relationships (i.e., the portion of the TP Graphshown to the user of the OU reflects the OU's relationships with otherOUs on the Trading Grid). Viewed as an OU, the TP Graph can be used bythe Trading Grid to control user access based on the OU'srelationship(s) with other OUs on the Trading Grid. This can beimportant in the supply chain network, for instance, in a shipping worldas the Trading Grid can effectively and efficiently monitor and controlwho can view an order, invoice, payment, etc. associated with a shipmentfrom one OU to another OU.

The system described above can provide a highly efficient solution forOUs to exchange information without the downside of leaking informationoutside of their respective, disconnected communities and yet canbenefit from being part of the TG. For example, multiple exchanges mayoccur in the completion of work. Suppose an OU needs to build along-range, wide-body twin-engine jet airplane. The OU would need toorder a fuselage, engines, etc. and this may lead to interactions amongmany suppliers that are not visible to the OU (and, as such, they arenot in the OU's community). In some embodiments, the system may tracksuch interactions via the TG and may correspondingly generate a customreport for the OU. As illustrated in FIG. 8 , in some embodiments, thesystem may implement a method 800 that includes analyzing a TP Graph andmaster data relative to the OU (801), determining or inferring indirectrelationship(s) between the OU and potential TPs based on the trackedinteractions (805), and updating the TP Graph to include or identifysuch relationships (810). Optionally, the system may generate a customreport on the identified relationships (815) and provide same to the OU(820). Because parts for the airplane (which exemplifies a complex workorder) may be built on a per-unit basis, the OU may utilize such arelationship report to streamline and/or optimize their work order.

Such supply chain activities can drive downstream as well as upstreamactivities. For example, if demand for airplane parts slows down, theslowdown would have an aggregated effect on the TG. To this end, FIG. 9illustrates an example of a method 900 of using a TP Graph to generate aglobal outlook or forecast. According to some embodiments, the systemmay aggregate trading activities and volume data across the entire TG(901), analyze the aggregated information (905) by, for instance,running analytics on the aggregated trading activities and volume data,and generate at least one forecast by applying results from theanalytics to a predictive model (910). Optionally, the system mayprovide and/or display the forecast(s) as a service to registered OUs.Following the above example, the system may determine that the demandfor airplane parts has slowed down in the past twelve months globallybased on the aggregated trading activities and volume data across the TGand may determine, using a forecast model appropriate for the airplaneparts manufacturing field, that the global demand for airplane partslikely will continue to fall in the next twelve months. This forecastcan be valuable to a supplier in the airplane parts manufacturing fieldthat would not otherwise have information about the trend in globaldemand.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary architecture for network computingenvironment 1000 that includes network 1014 that can be bi-directionallycoupled to OU computer 1012, TP computer 1015, and TG server computer1016. TG server computer 1016 can be bi-directionally coupled todatabase 1018. Network 1014 may represent a combination of wired andwireless networks that network computing environment 1000 may utilizefor various types of network communications known to those skilled inthe art.

For the purpose of illustration, a single system is shown for each of OUcomputer 1012, TP computer 1015, and TG server computer 1016. However,within each of OU computer 1012, TP computer 1015, and TG servercomputer 1016, a plurality of computers (not shown) may beinterconnected to each other over network 1014. For example, a pluralityof OU computers 1012 and a plurality of TP computers 1015 of their TPsmay be coupled to network 1014. OU computers 1012 may include dataprocessing systems for communicating with TG server computers 1016. TGserver computers 1016 may include data processing systems configured forproviding services, community management, and/or façade management to OUcomputers 1012.

As a non-limiting example, OU computer 1012 can include centralprocessing unit (“CPU”) 1020, read-only memory (“ROM”) 1022, randomaccess memory (“RAM”) 1024, hard drive (“HD”) or storage memory 1026,and input/output device(s) (“I/O”) 1028. I/O 1029 can include akeyboard, monitor, printer, electronic pointing device (e.g., mouse,trackball, stylus, etc.), or the like. OU computer 1012 can include adesktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, acellular phone, or nearly any device capable of communicating over anetwork. TP computer 1015 may be similar to OU computer 1012 and cancomprise CPU 1050, ROM 1052, RAM 1054, HD 1056, and I/O 1058.

Likewise, TG server computer 1016 may include CPU 1060, ROM 1062, RAM1064, HD 1066, and I/O 1068. TG server computer 1016 may include one ormore backend systems configured for providing a variety of services toOU computers 1012 over network 1014. One example of such a backendsystem can be a database management system for database 1018. Many otheralternative configurations are possible and known to skilled artisans.

Each of the computers in FIG. 10 may have more than one CPU, ROM, RAM,HD, I/O, or other hardware components. For the sake of brevity, eachcomputer is illustrated as having one of each of the hardwarecomponents, even if more than one is used. Each of computers 1012, 1015,and 1016 is an example of a data processing system. ROM 1022, 1052, and1062; RAM 1024, 1054, and 1064; HD 1026, 1056, and 1066; and database1018 can include media that can be read by CPU 1020, 1050, or 1060.Therefore, these types of memories include non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media. These memories may be internal orexternal to computers 1012, 1015, or 1016.

Portions of the methods described herein may be implemented in suitablesoftware code that may reside within ROM 1022, 1052, or 1062; RAM 1024,1054, or 1064; or HD 1026, 1056, or 1066. In addition to those types ofmemories, the instructions in an embodiment disclosed herein may becontained on a data storage device with a different computer-readablestorage medium, such as a hard disk. Alternatively, the instructions maybe stored as software code elements on a data storage array, magnetictape, floppy diskette, optical storage device, or other appropriate dataprocessing system readable medium or storage device.

Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the invention canbe implemented or practiced with other computer system configurations,including without limitation multi-processor systems, network devices,mini-computers, mainframe computers, data processors, and the like. Theinvention can be embodied in a general purpose computer, or a specialpurpose computer or data processor that is specifically programmed,configured, or constructed to perform the functions described in detailherein. The invention can also be employed in distributed computingenvironments, where tasks or modules are performed by remote processingdevices, which are linked through a communications network such as alocal area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), and/or the Internet.In a distributed computing environment, program modules or subroutinesmay be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. Theseprogram modules or subroutines may, for example, be stored ordistributed on computer-readable media, including magnetic and opticallyreadable and removable computer discs, stored as firmware in chips, aswell as distributed electronically over the Internet or over othernetworks (including wireless networks). Example chips may includeElectrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) chips.Embodiments discussed herein can be implemented in suitable instructionsthat may reside on a non-transitory computer readable medium, hardwarecircuitry or the like, or any combination and that may be translatableby one or more server machines. Examples of a non-transitory computerreadable medium are provided below in this disclosure.

ROM, RAM, and HD are computer memories for storing computer-executableinstructions executable by the CPU or capable of being compiled orinterpreted to be executable by the CPU. Suitable computer-executableinstructions may reside on a computer readable medium (e.g., ROM, RAM,and/or HD), hardware circuitry or the like, or any combination thereof.Within this disclosure, the term “computer readable medium” is notlimited to ROM, RAM, and HD and can include any type of data storagemedium that can be read by a processor. Examples of computer-readablestorage media can include, but are not limited to, volatile andnon-volatile computer memories and storage devices such as random accessmemories, read-only memories, hard drives, data cartridges, directaccess storage device arrays, magnetic tapes, floppy diskettes, flashmemory drives, optical data storage devices, compact-disc read-onlymemories, and other appropriate computer memories and data storagedevices. Thus, a computer-readable medium may refer to a data cartridge,a data backup magnetic tape, a floppy diskette, a flash memory drive, anoptical data storage drive, a CD-ROM, ROM, RAM, HD, or the like.

The processes described herein may be implemented in suitablecomputer-executable instructions that may reside on a computer readablemedium (for example, a disk, CD-ROM, a memory, etc.). Alternatively, thecomputer-executable instructions may be stored as software codecomponents on a direct access storage device array, magnetic tape,floppy diskette, optical storage device, or other appropriatecomputer-readable medium or storage device.

Any suitable programming language can be used to implement the routines,methods or programs of embodiments of the invention described herein,including C, C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, or any other programming orscripting code, etc. Other software/hardware/network architectures maybe used. For example, the functions of the disclosed embodiments may beimplemented on one computer or shared/distributed among two or morecomputers in or across a network. Communications between computersimplementing embodiments can be accomplished using any electronic,optical, radio frequency signals, or other suitable methods and tools ofcommunication in compliance with known network protocols.

Different programming techniques can be employed such as procedural orobject oriented. Any particular routine can execute on a single computerprocessing device or multiple computer processing devices, a singlecomputer processor or multiple computer processors. Data may be storedin a single storage medium or distributed through multiple storagemediums, and may reside in a single database or multiple databases (orother data storage techniques). Although the steps, operations, orcomputations may be presented in a specific order, this order may bechanged in different embodiments. In some embodiments, to the extentmultiple steps are shown as sequential in this specification, somecombination of such steps in alternative embodiments may be performed atthe same time. The sequence of operations described herein can beinterrupted, suspended, or otherwise controlled by another process, suchas an operating system, kernel, etc. The routines can operate in anoperating system environment or as stand-alone routines. Functions,routines, methods, steps and operations described herein can beperformed in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof.

Embodiments described herein can be implemented in the form of controllogic in software or hardware or a combination of both. The controllogic may be stored in an information storage medium, such as acomputer-readable medium, as a plurality of instructions adapted todirect an information processing device to perform a set of stepsdisclosed in the various embodiments. Based on the disclosure andteachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate other ways and/or methods to implement the invention.

It is also within the spirit and scope of the invention to implement insoftware programming or code an of the steps, operations, methods,routines or portions thereof described herein, where such softwareprogramming or code can be stored in a computer-readable medium and canbe operated on by a processor to permit a computer to perform any of thesteps, operations, methods, routines or portions thereof describedherein. The invention may be implemented by using software programmingor code in one or more general purpose digital computers, by usingapplication specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices,field programmable gate arrays, optical, chemical, biological, quantumor nanoengineered systems, components and mechanisms may be used. Ingeneral, the functions of the invention can be achieved by any means asis known in the art. For example, distributed, or networked systems,components and circuits can be used. In another example, communicationor transfer (or otherwise moving from one place to another) of data maybe wired, wireless, or by any other means.

A “computer-readable medium” may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, system ordevice. The computer readable medium can be, by way of example only butnot by limitation, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, system, device,propagation medium, or computer memory. Such computer-readable mediumshall generally be machine readable and include software programming orcode that can be human readable (e.g., source code) or machine readable(e.g., object code). Examples of non-transitory computer-readable mediacan include random access memories, read-only memories, hard drives,data cartridges, magnetic tapes, floppy diskettes, flash memory drives,optical data storage devices, compact-disc read-only memories, and otherappropriate computer memories and data storage devices. In anillustrative embodiment, some or all of the software components mayreside on a single server computer or on any combination of separateserver computers. As one skilled in the art can appreciate, a computerprogram product implementing an embodiment disclosed herein may compriseone or more non-transitory computer readable media storing computerinstructions translatable by one or more processors in a computingenvironment.

A “processor” includes any, hardware system, mechanism or component thatprocesses data, signals or other information. A processor can include asystem with a general-purpose central processing unit, multipleprocessing units, dedicated circuitry for achieving functionality, orother systems. Processing need not be limited to a geographic location,or have temporal limitations. For example, a processor can perform itsfunctions in “real-time,” “offline,” in a “batch mode,” etc. Portions ofprocessing can be performed at different times and at differentlocations, by different (or the same) processing systems.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having,” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,product, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited only those elements but may include other elementsnot expressly listed or inherent to such process, product, article, orapparatus.

Furthermore, the term “or” as used herein is generally intended to mean“and/or” unless otherwise indicated. For example, a condition A or B issatisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B isfalse (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (orpresent), and both A and B are true (or present). As used herein, a termpreceded by “a” or “an” (and “the” when antecedent basis is “a” or “an”)includes both singular and plural of such term, unless clearly indicatedotherwise (i.e., that the reference “a” or “an” clearly indicates onlythe singular or only the plural). Also, as used in the descriptionherein, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise.

It will also be appreciated that one or more of the elements depicted inthe drawings/figures can also be implemented in a more separated orintegrated manner, or even removed or rendered as inoperable in certaincases, as is useful in accordance with a particular application.Additionally, any signal arrows in the drawings/figures should beconsidered only as exemplary, and not limiting, unless otherwisespecifically noted. The scope of the disclosure should be determined bythe following claims and their legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A relationship-based data processing method,comprising: tracking, by a server computer operating on an informationexchange platform utilizing a trading partner graph, interactions amongtrading partners that exchange information through the informationexchange platform; analyzing, by the server computer, the tradingpartner graph and master data of a first operating unit, wherein thetrading partner graph and the master data of the first operating unitare maintained by the information exchange platform independently of thefirst operating unit, wherein the master data of the first operatingunit comprises a master data object and a façade, wherein the façadecomprises an instance of the master data object, and wherein both themaster data object and the façade represent the first operating unit;determining, by the server computer based on the interactions tracked bythe server computer, relationships between the first operating unit andpotential trading partners of the first operating unit; and updating, bythe server computer, the trading partner graph to identify therelationships thus determined by the server computer.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: receiving an electronic datainterchange address of the first operating unit; and automaticallycreating the master data object for the first operating unit.
 3. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: generating the façadeas an instance of the master data object associated with the firstoperating unit, wherein the façade contains a pointer that referencesthe master data object.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein themaster data of the first operating unit comprises core master data andpolicy-protected community master data, wherein the core master data isstored in the master data object associated with the first operatingunit, and wherein the policy-protected community master data is storedin the façade associated with the first operating unit.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 4, wherein the core maser data contain data about thefirst operating unit that do not change across solution communities onthe information exchange platform, wherein the policy-protectedcommunity master data contain community-specific data about tradingpartners of the first operating unit in a solution community on theinformation exchange platform.
 6. The method according to claim 1,further comprising: tracking activities and volume data associated withtrading partners across the information exchange platform; analyzing theactivities and the volume data; and applying results from the analyzingto a predictive model, the applying producing a forecast of a globaldemand.
 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:generating a report on the relationships between the first operatingunit and the potential trading partners of the first operating unit; andproviding the report to a computer system of the first operating unit.8. A relationship-based data processing system, comprising: a processor;a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and stored instructionstranslatable by the processor for: tracking, on an information exchangeplatform utilizing a trading partner graph, interactions among tradingpartners that exchange information through the information exchangeplatform; analyzing the trading partner graph and master data of a firstoperating unit, wherein the trading partner graph and the master data ofthe first operating unit are maintained by the information exchangeplatform independently of the first operating unit, wherein the masterdata of the first operating unit comprises a master data object and afaçade, wherein the façade comprises an instance of the master dataobject, and wherein both the master data object and the façade representthe first operating unit; determining, based on the interactions trackedby the relationship-based data processing system, relationships betweenthe first operating unit and potential trading partners of the firstoperating unit; and updating the trading partner graph to identify therelationships thus determined by the relationship-based data processingsystem.
 9. The relationship-based data processing system of claim 8,wherein the stored instructions are further translatable by theprocessor for: receiving an electronic data interchange address of thefirst operating unit; and automatically creating the master data objectfor the first operating unit.
 10. The relationship-based data processingsystem of claim 8, wherein the stored instructions are furthertranslatable by the processor for: generating the façade as an instanceof the master data object associated with the first operating unit,wherein the façade contains a pointer that references the master dataobject.
 11. The relationship-based data processing system of claim 8,wherein the master data of the first operating unit comprises coremaster data and policy-protected community master data, wherein the coremaster data is stored in the master data object associated with thefirst operating unit, and wherein the policy-protected community masterdata is stored in the façade associated with the first operating unit.12. The relationship-based data processing system of claim 11, whereinthe core maser data contain data about the first operating unit that donot change across solution communities on the information exchangeplatform, wherein the policy-protected community master data containcommunity-specific data about trading partners of the first operatingunit in a solution community on the information exchange platform. 13.The relationship-based data processing system of claim 8, wherein thestored instructions are further translatable by the processor for:tracking activities and volume data associated with trading partnersacross the information exchange platform; analyzing the activities andthe volume data; and applying results from the analyzing to a predictivemodel, the applying producing a forecast of a global demand.
 14. Therelationship-based data processing system of claim 8, wherein the storedinstructions are further translatable by the processor for: generating areport on the relationships between the first operating unit and thepotential trading partners of the first operating unit; and providingthe report to a computer system of the first operating unit.
 15. Acomputer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing instructions translatable by a processor for: tracking,on an information exchange platform utilizing a trading partner graph,interactions among trading partners that exchange information throughthe information exchange platform; analyzing the trading partner graphand master data of a first operating unit, wherein the trading partnergraph and the master data of the first operating unit are maintained bythe information exchange platform independently of the first operatingunit, wherein the master data of the first operating unit comprises amaster data object and a façade, wherein the façade comprises aninstance of the master data object, and wherein both the master dataobject and the façade represent the first operating unit; determining,based on the interactions tracked by the relationship-based dataprocessing system, relationships between the first operating unit andpotential trading partners of the first operating unit; and updating thetrading partner graph to identify the relationships thus determined bythe relationship-based data processing system.
 16. The computer programproduct of claim 15, wherein the instructions are further translatableby the processor for: receiving an electronic data interchange addressof the first operating unit; and automatically creating the master dataobject for the first operating unit.
 17. The computer program product ofclaim 15, wherein the instructions are further translatable by theprocessor for: generating the façade as an instance of the master dataobject associated with the first operating unit, wherein the façadecontains a pointer that references the master data object.
 18. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the master data of thefirst operating unit comprises core master data and policy-protectedcommunity master data, wherein the core master data is stored in themaster data object associated with the first operating unit, and whereinthe policy-protected community master data is stored in the façadeassociated with the first operating unit.
 19. The computer programproduct of claim 18, wherein the core maser data contain data about thefirst operating unit that do not change across solution communities onthe information exchange platform, wherein the policy-protectedcommunity master data contain community-specific data about tradingpartners of the first operating unit in a solution community on theinformation exchange platform.
 20. The computer program product of claim15, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processorfor: tracking activities and volume data associated with tradingpartners across the information exchange platform; analyzing theactivities and the volume data; and applying results from the analyzingto a predictive model, the applying producing a forecast of a globaldemand.